SummerSlam (2004)
SummerSlam (2004) was the seventeenth annual SummerSlam professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). It took place on August 15, 2004, at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto, Ontario and featured talent from the Raw and SmackDown! brands. The main match on the Raw brand was Chris Benoit versus Randy Orton for the World Heavyweight Championship, which Orton won by pinfall after performing an RKO. The predominant match on the SmackDown! brand was John "Bradshaw" Layfield (JBL) versus The Undertaker for the WWE Championship, which JBL won after Undertaker was disqualified. The featured matches on the undercard included Kurt Angle versus Eddie Guerrero and Triple H versus Eugene. Storylines The main feud heading into SummerSlam on the Raw brand was between Chris Benoit and Randy Orton, with the two feuding over the World Heavyweight Championship. At Vengeance, Benoit defeated Triple H to retain the title. On the July 26 episode of Raw, Orton won a 20-man battle royal, last eliminating Chris Jericho, to become the number one contender to the title at SummerSlam. Also that night, Benoit defeated Triple H in a 60-minute Iron Man match to retain the title with the help of Eugene. The following week on Raw, Evolution (Orton, Batista, and Ric Flair) defeated Benoit, Edge, and Chris Jericho. Evolution won the match after Orton pinned Benoit following an RKO. On the August 9 episode of Raw, Benoit defeated the team of Orton and Triple H in a Handicap match by disqualification. The primary feud on the SmackDown! brand was between John "Bradshaw" Layfield (JBL) and The Undertaker, both of whom wanted the WWE Championship. JBL had won the title two months prior at The Great American Bash by defeating then-champion Eddie Guerrero in a Texas Bullrope match. One month later, on the July 22 episode of SmackDown!, JBL defeated a jobber to retain the title. After the match, Undertaker came out and challenged JBL to a match at SummerSlam. On the August 5 episode of SmackDown!, as JBL called out The Undertaker, a midget wrestler came out and began to imitate the real Undertaker. The real Undertaker came out shortly afterwards and attacked JBL, until Orlando Jordan came out to help him. The following week, Undertaker defeated Jordan by disqualification after JBL interfered and executed a Clothesline from Hell on Undertaker. The secondary feud on the SmackDown! brand was between Kurt Angle and Eddie Guerrero. The feud first started at WrestleMania XX, when Guerrero defeated Angle to successfully retain the WWE Championship. Guerrero lost the title to John "Bradshaw" Layfield (JBL) in June, when Angle, then-SmackDown! General Manager, screwed Guerrero and declared JBL the winner. Three weeks later, on the July 15 episode of SmackDown!, JBL defeated Guerrero in a Steel Cage match to retain the title. Towards the end of the match, El Gran Luchadore (portrayed by Angle) interfered, giving JBL enough time to escape the cage and win the match. After the match ended, Guerrero attacked Luchadore and pulled off his mask, revealing him to be Kurt Angle. On the following episode of SmackDown!, Vince McMahon scheduled a match between Angle and Guerrero for SummerSlam. The secondary feud on the Raw brand was between Triple H and Eugene. The feud first started, when on the May 17 episode of Raw, during an in-ring segment with The Rock, Eugene revealed that is favorite wrestler was in fact Triple H due to Eugene's adoration of "playing games". Capitalizing on this opportunity, Triple H began to befriend the star-struck and naive Eugene even making the young wrestler an honorary member of Triple H's stable Evolution. However, Triple H soon revealed that this was all a calculated ploy and that he planned to utilize Eugene to help him win back the World Heavyweight Championship from Chris Benoit. Yet, Triple H's plan failed miserably when during his title match with Benoit at Vengeance, Eugene inadvertently hit him with a steel chair costing him the match and the championship. The following night on Raw, Triple H responded by brutally assaulting Eugene in the ring after falsely implying that he had forgiven him for the preceding night's events. On the July 26 episode of Raw, Eugene would return to exact a degree of revenge by costing Triple H his re-match with Benoit. This led to an infuriated Triple H demanding a match between the two at SummerSlam, to which Raw General Manager Eric Bischoff consented. Aftermath On the August 16 episode of Raw, Randy Orton defeated Chris Benoit in a rematch to retain the World Heavyweight Championship. After the match, Evolution (Batista, Ric Flair, and Triple H), threw Orton a mock celebration, only to reveal that they were not pleased with his new victory. While Batista had Orton propped on his shoulders, Triple H gave him a pleased thumbs up, but abruptly changed it to a thumbs-down. He then told Batista to drop Orton to the mat, and Flair and Batista attacked Orton as Triple H told him that he was nothing without Evolution, and decided that Orton was on his own. On the August 23 episode of Raw, Triple H told Orton to give him the title or "pay the price". Orton refused, and then he spat in Triple H's face and hit him with the title belt turning Orton face. Raw General Manager Eric Bischoff then scheduled a match between Orton and Triple H for the title at Unforgiven. At Unforgiven, Orton lost the title when he was pinned by Triple H. The feud between John "Bradshaw" Layfield (JBL) and The Undertaker continued. The next few weeks on SmackDown!, JBL wore a neck brace, to signify that he was recuperating from Undertaker's chokeslam On the August 26 episode of SmackDown!, Orlando Jordan defended the WWE Championship for JBL against The Undertaker. Undertaker won the match via disqualification following interference from JBL; as a result, JBL retained the title. The following week on SmackDown!, General Manager Theodore Long scheduled a Last Ride match at No Mercy between JBL and Undertaker. At No Mercy, JBL retained the title after interference by Heidenreich. Results Other on-screen personnel See also * List of WWE pay-per-view events * SummerSlam Category:SummerSlam Category:World Wrestling Entertainment pay-per-view events Category:2004 Pay-Per-View Events